There are multiple layers for a Clans conflict. There's your actual movement, which takes some getting used to, with your legs following their own path as you rotate your torso. There's your team and how they're deployed, which takes up a lot of your background thought cycles. And then there's your mech, the heat levels, the armor, the speed, and everything else you set during customization.
Your enemies and your copilots are pretty stupid. There's a lot of variety in what you encounter and what you need to do, but no one but you on the field seems to have a good idea of how verticality works or what's most important on the field at that moment. Once you accept that your teammates are powerful dummies, you learn to let go of your own mech a bit and spend more time pushing them around or jumping into their cockpits and taking over for a while.
The nature of the mech combat in these games just didn't click with me after half a dozen missions. At some level it's interesting to juggle different weapons, position yourself with limited freedom of movement and manage teammates. I'm going slowly and it feels like a slog, but I could have gone faster if I had made a different choice while loading. I should just make someone else the toughest.
But it is also a crunchy simulation game, simulating machines that do not exist in reality. Everything that stands between you and your sense of capable combat is a choice made by the developers.
Mecha culpa
Based on my conversations with old ones MechWarrior fans and reading a lot of positive reviews to find out if there is something wrong with me I guess MechWarrior 5: Clans is a very juicy offering for mech fans who have been hungry for something new (and especially something set in this Clans coming back period) for quite some time. I'm just not thrilled as a newcomer, and I'm now thinking something like Armored core VI would be more my speed if I'm looking for rocking or possibly sock robots. I also didn't bother with multiplayer at all, so my standard dismissal of combative AI would only half apply there.
But tell me and each other what this game looks like or plays for you. I'm not a bioengineer MechWarrior (I mean, just look at how many contractions I use), but I can still appreciate that it looks pretty good for those who fit better into the chassis.
